Evil Vs. Merry Heart

I. EXORDIUM:

Are you always crying? Are you always rejoicing?

II. AUDIENCE PROFILE:

Believers

III. OBJECTIVES:

To show that we need to rejoice all the time in the LORD because of His victory in us, an afflicted and broken heart will always lead to anxiety.

IV. TEXT:

Proverbs 15:15 (Amplified Bible)

15:15 All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].

Proverbs 15:15 (King James Version)

15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.

Matthew 25:21 (Amplified Bible)

25:21 His master said to him, Well done, you upright (honorable, admirable) and faithful servant! You have been faithful and trustworthy over a little; I will put you in charge of much. Enter into and share the joy (the delight, the blessedness) which your master enjoys.

V. THESIS:

Praise, worship and thank You very much LORD JESUS for You are our Joy and we rejoice in the LORD not according to our circumstances or sad thoughts but in the LORD JESUS CHRIST. We share in the Joy of the LORD and it's our strength and stronghold.

VI. TITLE:

Evil vs. merry heart

VII. EXPLICATION:

A. Authors: Credited generally to King Solomon before his character downfall/decline.

B. Date written: from 931 to 686 B.C.

C. Purpose: To give moral instruction

D. Main Theme: Fear of the LORD

VIII. MAIN BODY:

A. Evil days are for the afflicted

"All the days of the afflicted are evil:"

Unbelievers worry and are anxious for everything in his/her life. He/she thoughts about what to eat, what to drink and what to wear. Their thoughts are evil in GOD's eyes because GOD can't see Himself in their thoughts.

Afflicted or "aniy" in Hebrew means:

1. depressed in mind and circumstance

2. humble, lowly, needy, poor

Evil or "ra raah" in Hebrew means:

1. bad

2. calamity

Proverbs 15:15 (Amplified Bible)

15:15 All the days of the desponding and afflicted are made evil [by anxious thoughts and forebodings], but he who has a glad heart has a continual feast [regardless of circumstances].

Philippians 4:6 (Amplified Bible)

4:6 Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

Matthew 6:31-33 (Amplified Bible)

6:31 Therefore do not worry and be anxious, saying, What are we going to have to eat? or, What are we going to have to drink? or, What are we going to have to wear?

6:32 For the Gentiles (heathen) wish for and crave and diligently seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows well that you need them all.

6:33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

Matthew 6:25-30 (Amplified Bible)

6:25 Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink; or about your body, what you shall put on. Is not life greater [in quality] than food, and the body [far above and more excellent] than clothing?

6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father keeps feeding them. Are you not worth much more than they?

6:27 And who of you by worrying and being anxious can add one unit of measure (cubit) to his stature or to the span of his life?

6:28 And why should you be anxious about clothes? Consider the lilies of the field and learn thoroughly how they grow; they neither toil nor spin.

6:29 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his magnificence (excellence, dignity, and grace) was not arrayed like one of these.

6:30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and green and tomorrow is tossed into the furnace, will He not much more surely clothe you, O you of little faith?

I remember my bible college instructor saying "It's only in the mind." It took me years to understand it. Now I grasp it. Your status in life here on earth fully depended on what you are thinking. If you think you are poor, then you are, if you think you are rich and super-abundantly provided by GOD, then you are.

Proverbs 23:7 (Amplified Bible)

23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost].